Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
It didn't happen often. Normally she could line up either her dad or one of the boys or Lanie to watch Al but Jim was taking a long weekend to go hunting up at the cabin upstate and everyone else had to work. Kate didn't want to bring Al into the precinct; her daughter would get bored after an hour and spend the entire day tripping up detectives even if she didn't mean to.
Kate groaned in frustration, her head falling back along the couch. The evening news was playing on the TV but she hadn't been paying attention for at least thirty minutes, letting the pretty meteorologist fill her in on the weather for the rest of the week. Apparently, it was going to snow pretty heavily, a surprise considering it was nearly halfway through March and had been nice up to that point. Her phone taunted her from the coffee table where she had tossed it ten minutes ago after the conversation with her father about watching Al for the day.
There was one person she could call but she didn't like calling in a favor on such short notice. But there was no one else on her list of possible and it was worth a shot. She needed someone. She leaned forward, grabbing the phone and scrolling through the contacts. Before she could back out again, Kate hit 'Call' and waited for the person to pick up.
"Hello?"
Just his voice made her feel a little lighter, filled her with the possibility that he would say 'yes.' "Hey, Rick."
"Kate? What's up?"
She sat back, pulling one of the throw pillows from the couch into her lap, playing with the tassel at the corner. "Uh, nothing much. You?" Oh. Small talk. She was nervous.
And she could tell that Castle knew. "Writing. Well, outlining mostly. Any interruption is a welcome one. Especially one from you."
If she beat around the bush, Kate knew she'd hang up. So she took a deep breath and started speaking. "Listen, I need to ask a favor. And you're free to say 'no' but-"
"Kate, what do you need?" He sounded a little like her father did when Kate had asked him about going out to a party with friends, like he knew what was coming and didn't need any chatter beforehand.
She took his cue to just ask. "Are you free tomorrow?"
The quiet click of keys on a laptop was in the background as he spoke. It was late and she was a little surprised that he was still awake after the case they'd had. "Don't we have work?"
We? That was new. Kate shook her head, biting her lower lip for a moment. "Yeah." She nudged a magazine on the coffee table with her toe. "Rick, I already called my dad and everyone else is busy so you're really my last resort so-"
"You need someone to watch Al."
Kate deflated on a sigh. He got it. He got it without making her say the words. She could have hugged him. "Yes."
"I'd love to."
"Don't feel pressured," Kate jumped in, trying to give him an out if he needed it. "I can find someone in the building if you'd rather be-"
"Kate." He was getting good at interrupting her. It made her scrunch her face up, not used to having someone jump in on her. "I wouldn't have said 'yes' if I didn't mean it and want to."
"Thank you. Seriously, Rick. I owe you."
"You owe me nothing. Now, what time should I be by to keep Al entertained while you get to do all the superhero crime-fighting stuff?"
Kate told him to try and get over by eight fifteen then rattled off her address. She hadn't given it to him and she had figured he would have used some illegal website to find it. The fact that he hadn't gone behind her back to find where she lived just made her trust him a bit more.
He hung up somewhere in the middle of her stream of repeated thanks, telling her that he would be on-time and ready to spend the day with what he said was the most enchanting child he ever did meet.
The knock at the door jolted Kate out of sleep. One hand reached for her bedside drawer where her backup piece is as the other threw off the blankets. Sleep clouded her mind as she flipped the safety off the Sig as she padded down the hall past Al's still-dark room to the front door. Kate nearly fainted when she looked through the peep hole and saw who was standing on the other side.
She tried to hide the gun but her leggings and t-shirt really offered no cover. Kate opened the door, pushing her hair back from her face realizing how tangled it was.
"Hey," Castle said with a smile. His hands were in the pockets of his peacoat but a bag swung from the wrist of one of his hands. "You going to shoot me? Because that is really no way to thank me for coming over last minute."
Shit. Kate stepped aside and closed the door behind him. "My alarm didn't go off." Well that had nothing to do with his question, smart one, she told herself.
"I can see." He was careful not to let his eyes travel up and down her body too many times but he had noticed the pajamas as soon as she had opened the door.
Kate rubbed at her eyes, putting the gun on the kitchen counter as she programmed the coffee machine. She took down two mugs, set them next to the machine before putting bread into the toaster. "Sorry about this, Rick. I haven't slept much lately." She turned around to see him still standing just inside the doorway. "But you know why, of course."
The case from the last week had made the list of Kate's worst top ten. The Commissioner had been breathing down Montgomery's neck so the entire team had been on edge. Kate had spent a few nights sleeping on the couch in her captain's office since Esposito always beat her to the one in the break room. Even then, none of them really got more than a couple of hours a night before they were back at the board or pouring over financial statements that had taken over the conference room table. Jim had watched Al for the week and Kate had tried to call every night to talk to her daughter, hear about her day at school and what Grandpa was making for dinner and how much she missed Mom. After every phone call, Kate had disappeared into the break room to collect herself, ignoring Castle's glances that had followed her.
After they had finally closed the case, Montgomery forced them all to take a day off, spend it sleeping and eating like normal humans, see their friends and family, and come back Saturday.
And Kate had. She'd picked Al up from her father's, dropping off a box of his favorite cookies from one of the corner bakeries, then spent the day with Al in Kate's bed. They'd painted their toenails, Kate had finished reading Al Charlotte's Web, and they'd eaten ice cream for dinner. For the first time in the week, Kate had felt human.
She wasn't sure what Castle had done yesterday with his day off from following her around but he looked significantly better than she did. Especially since he was dressed and wide awake while she was standing in her kitchen in pajamas after nearly pointing a gun at him.
Castle dropped the bag onto the ground behind the couch, leaning his back against the furniture, and tilting his head so a lock of brown hair fell across his forehead. "I get it. Go get dressed, Kate. I'll watch the toast."
Kate changed out of her pajamas into jeans and a pale pink sweater; it was the weekend and no one would be dressed in typical business casual at the precinct that day. She did add a tan blazer over the sweater to try and bump it up into a more formal category but Kate really wasn't trying. She pulled her hair into a bun, brushing the escaping strands back behind her ear before putting on mascara. Unlocked her safe and took out her gun, keeping the clip out of the weapon for now.
She heard the sound of coffee being poured in the kitchen as she carried her shoes into Al's room. The sunlight was peeking through the bottom of the blinds, giving Kate a bit of illumination on the path over to her daughter's side.
"Hey, Al?" she whispered into the girl's ear.
Al rolled over, her hand covering her eyes even as she moaned, "What?"
"I'm going to work. Rick's going to be in the living room until I get home, okay?"
"Yeah…"
"Love you." Kate snuck back out of Al's room after placing a quick kiss on her daughter's cheek, leaving the door cracked again.
Castle handed her a mug of coffee as she entered the kitchen, pointing to the plate of toast on the counter. "I wasn't sure how you took it so…"
Kate took a sip of the coffee and sighed. "Thanks." She picked up one of the slices and bit into it without any butter or jam. "Did you eat before you came over? Because you're free to help yourself to whatever you can find."
"Ate before I came. But I'm sure I'll scrounge something up for lunch for Al and I," he said, watching as Kate managed to put her shoes on while balancing the coffee mug in one hand and holding the toast between her teeth. He didn't look away when she straightened, chewing the toast as she put the clip of her gun in place, checking the safety.
She caught him staring as she snapped the holster closed at her hip. "What?"
His smile was barely hidden behind his coffee cup. "Nothing. You just look kinda sexy when you do that. The whole woman-with-a-gun thing."
"Just remember I know how to use it, Rick," she said, pulling a coat down from the closet and swinging it on. "And I know where you live."
"Touché, Detective."
"You're sure you'll be alright?" she asked, shouldering her bag and glancing down the hall toward Al's room.
He surprised her by walking over and opening her own door for her, giving her a little shove on the shoulder. "I'll be golden. And Al will be fine. I'll text with hourly updates if you want."
Kate paused in the doorway, turning to look at him with a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm being ridiculous, aren't I?"
"Kinda, yeah. But it's sweet." He nodded toward the hallway outside the apartment. "Go on, Kate. We'll be fine until five o'clock."
"Then I'm treating for dinner." Kate held up a finger when Castle opened his mouth. "No arguments, Rick. I want to."
As soon as she was out of the apartment, Castle grabbed the bag from against the couch. He had brought over the Nintendo 64 that had been gathering dust next to the Wii and X-Box 360 along with Mario Kart. He'd spent hours playing the game either against his mother when she wasn't rehearsing or memorizing lines or against the computer. He had a feeling that Al would love the competitiveness of the game but he did notice the rather large collection of Disney and Dreamworks movies on the shelf that he could turn to if the girl wasn't amused by the challenge of Rainbow Road.
Now, just to wait for her to wake up. Castle settled on the couch, the mug of coffee between his hands, and flipped on the TV to the morning talk shows, the volume low enough that he'd be able to hear if Al got up.
Al rolled over, squishing her face into the pillow in an attempt to put herself back to sleep. Sometimes it worked and she'd be asleep for another hour or so. Today it failed. The sunlight that snuck around her window's curtains was bright and she was too warm under her pile of blankets.
So she resigned herself to getting up. Al wrapped a fleece throw around her shoulders as she walked across the hall from her room to the bathroom, brushing her teeth. She checked Mom's room and found it dark and empty.
Right. Mom was at work. Rick was going to be with her all day.
Still dressed in her pajamas, Al went down the hall to the kitchen. It smelled like coffee making Al wrinkle her nose. She didn't know how Mom drank the stuff when it smelled so bad.
"Awake, Al?"
Over on the couch was Rick. Al smiled, running around the sofa to sit next to him. "Yeah."
"Breakfast?" he asked, switching the TV onto mute. Al looked exactly like Kate in the morning. Her hair was uncombed, a mess from sleep mussing up the braid she had obviously gone to bed in. He could see a line from the pillowcase still pressed into her forehead. But her eyes were bright and awake. Just like Kate's had been though he suspected that she had just rolled out of bed when he had knocked.
"Cereal!" Al exclaimed, tossing the throw blanket off her shoulders and sliding down to the floor again. "It's in that cupboard," she said, up on her toes as she pointed toward one of the cabinets above her. "Can you get it?"
He got up, walking over to take down the box of Cheerios and a bowl from the other cabinet that Al pointed to. Then he watched as she poured out the little circles and added milk. She wandered back over to the couch to curl up against the arm, the bowl of cereal in her lap, her eyes focused on the TV even though no words came out of the people on the screen.
"So, Al," he said, leaning his arms on the back of the couch and hanging his head down to her level. "Got plans for the day?"
She paused eating, looking over at him and giggling when she found him sideways. "Can we go to the zoo?"
"The Bronx Zoo?" Al nodded, taking another spoonful of Cheerios on the spoon and eating it. "I don't see why not. Let me check with your mom first," he said, tapping her on the nose before going into the kitchen to call Kate up.
"What's wrong, Castle?" she answered, sounding both concerned and annoyed at the same time.
Al had turned around on the couch, looking over the back, and watching him carefully. Hope was written all over her face. "It okay with you if Al and I go visit the zoo?"
After a minute of convincing the woman that he'd keep an eye on Al and that he was totally fine with the trip, Castle hung up. "Eat up, Lex. We're headed to the zoo!"
"Lex?" Al tilted her head, thinking.
"Not working for you?" She shook her head. "We'll stick with Al then."
Twenty minutes later, Al was dressed, bundled into her jacket, and sitting with Castle in the back of a cab on their way to the Bronx. Castle was probably just as excited as the girl next to him though he was doing a better job of hiding his joy. Al was bouncing on the seat, her face pressed to the window as she looked for a sign of an elephant or a tiger or a snake even as they passed through neighborhoods, not the zoo. It had been ages since he'd been to the zoo and Al gave him the perfect excuse to let his inner child out.
He paid for their tickets, keeping a hand in Al's so she wouldn't run off as soon as they walked into the zoo.
"What first, Al?" he asked even as the girl's eyes darted from place to place.
"Penguins! Penguins first!"
Castle grabbed a map from one of the bulletin boards just inside the entrance and unfolded it, searching the key for where the penguins would be. They'd have to pass by the sea lions and a building that housed animals from Madagascar before they got to the pool where the penguins lived. Maybe Al would want to stop and see those before they got to the penguins. Folding the map back up, Castle stuffed it into his back pocket and took the girl's hand again.
"This way, kid. To the tuxedos we go!"
Al skipped along at his side, pointing at a camel in the distance as they walked toward the sea bird area. She wanted to go to her favorite animal first, then, she told Castle, they could look at the other ones. When they reached the pool where the black and white birds lived, Al ran up to the fence, her fingers wrapping around the wire.
"Rick, look!" she said, pointing into the pool where penguins stood on rock formations.
He stepped behind her so she wouldn't tumble backwards, his hand running over her hair absently. "Penguins. Cool, right?"
She was totally transfixed by them. When two dove into the water, she squealed and did a little dance, turning around to make sure he was watching. A worker came out and started tossing fish to the birds which only made Al more excited as she saw the penguins leap out of the water to get food. A few seagulls joined in, trying to get a fish or two, but the zookeeper was good at keeping the penguins first on their priorities.
"Hey," he said, giving Al a little nudge with his knee once the woman with the bucket of fish disappeared again. "Want to go see some of the other animals?"
They looped around to see the sea lions clap and laugh at them before visiting a set of tigers that were bathing in the late winter sun. There were ducks and geese and some swans swimming in a pond that came before a pen of bears. Castle laughed as Al approached their area tentatively, watching one of the brown bears walk back and forth on the grass. Then she raised her arms up and roared at them. The bear didn't respond but the people around them did, smiling at the girl as she got closer to the mesh fence.
"She's adorable."
Castle glanced next to him where a couple stood, two children between them that were staring at Al as she continued to growl at the bears. "Yeah. She's something."
"You and your wife must be pretty proud," asked the man, his arm looped through the woman's arm.
He shook his head. "Oh, no. She's the daughter of a friend." He smiled, one eye on Al even still. "Just watching her for the day. Wanted to see the penguins."
"Ahh…" drew out the woman. "Well, she's lovely. Come on, you two. Time to get something to eat." The family went in the direction of the café, leaving Castle with Al again.
"Any other requests?" he asked Al. She had stopped taunting the bears and found herself back against Castle's side. "We can do snakes and lizards or gazelle and baboons," he said, consulting the map again, pointing out the two paths to the girl.
Al picked gazelles and baboons, claiming that snakes were yucky. As they went past the enclosure, Castle pointed out the giraffe that wandered the plains next to them. It dipped its head down to nibble at a patch of grass. Al giggled at the animal's wide stance as it ate. They continued on to see the gorillas, some monkeys, and a toucan that cawed at them as they stared.
By the time Castle led her toward the exit, Al was fading fast. He ducked into the store to buy a bottle of water for them both and somehow found a small stuffed penguin in the bag with him as he left. He'd hold onto it, wait for the right moment to gift the girl with the stuffed animal. In the cab, Al fell asleep with her head against his shoulder.
Castle carried the sleeping child up the flight of stairs to the apartment, going to unlock the front door but finding it open. Panic set in. He swore he had locked the apartment behind them as they'd left that morning using the key hanging next to the door. He wouldn't have been so stupid as to leave the place unsecure.
"Don't worry, Rick. It's just me." Kate's voice carried around the corner before she appeared in the kitchen. She studied them as he closed the door with his foot. "Dead or sleeping?"
"Sleeping," he replied. "Do you want her on the couch or in her bed?"
Kate nodded toward the hallway. "Better put her in bed. Less likely to roll off." She followed Castle down the hall. Together, they got Al's shoes off along with her jacket and tucked her under a few of the blankets.
They didn't speak until the door was closed and they were back in the living room. Kate poured Castle some water then sat on the couch. "You wore her out. I should get you to watch her more often."
"Just let her run around the zoo for a few hours. It was fun. Plus," he said, pulling out the penguin stuffed animal, "I snagged her this."
"Oh goodness, Rick," Kate sighed, taking the penguin and holding it on her knees in front of her. "She's going to love this." Then she handed it back, catching the grin on his face as he put the animal back into the bag. "Did she still growl at the bears?"
He laughed, short and quiet. "That's a regular occurrence then?"
"Yeah. She's done that pretty much every time we go." Kate nudged the Nintendo 64 with her foot. "You didn't get a chance to play Mario Kart with her." When he raised a brow at her, Kate smiled. "I might have looked through your collection of games that you toted over."
Castle shrugged. "The zoo was a better idea. I can play video games whenever."
"Like now?"
"Why, Detective Beckett. Are you challenging me to a competition?" he asked, turning to face her.
She got up, turning the console on, and putting the game in. "You're on, Rick. Whoever loses the most races makes dinner."
"Deal."
For the next hour, Kate and Castle did battle using race cars, game characters, and colorful tracks. Kate kept score on the back of a magazine using tally marks. By the time Al reappeared, fully rested and babbling about the animals, Kate was down by three. Castle only had to glance over the girl's head to let her know that he had won. So Kate got up, letting her daughter talk as she started to boil water for pasta.
"Oh, Mom," Al said with a happy smile. "It was great."
And Castle had to agree; it had been a pretty great day. The morning with Al, the afternoon with Kate. Spending nearly ten hours laughing so much that he was certain he had toned his abs significantly.
"I'll repeat it any time you want, Beckett ladies," he said, his eyes meeting Kate's as she stirred sauce for the spaghetti. "Maybe we can get Mom to join in next time," he stage-whispered to the girl next to him
"Mom! Come to the zoo with Rick and me!" she exclaimed.
"Maybe on my next day off, kid."